Meetings for 10, conference days, company lunches and dinners, golf outings and weddings for up to 700 guests can be organized at Wente Vineyards, a family winery at 5050 Arroyo Road in Livermore, in the Livermore Valley east of the San Francisco Bay Area. The estate combines two conference rooms, an event center, two lawns, wine caves and its own golf course.
Seminars and company events
Wente sells meetings, private events, lunches and dinners, golf outings and team-building activities to groups from ten people to a thousand. There are two conference rooms: the Herman Wente Conference Room for 10 and the Charles Wetmore Conference Room for 40, both with a large TV and an HDMI adapter. Larger sessions move to the Cresta Blanca Room in the event center, equipped with two drop-down screens and two projectors. Conference menus cover days from a breakfast kickoff to a full-day retreat, and the golf course, with its own tournament menus, lets a meeting end with a round. A special events team handles the planning and the day itself.
Weddings and receptions
Ceremonies and receptions can be held on the Vineyard Lawn among the vines, on the Terrace Lawn next to the event center, or in the Cresta Blanca Room, whose 15-foot ceiling is made from old wine barrels. Events on the Terrace Lawn end by 11 pm and those on the Vineyard Lawn by 10 pm.
Rooms and capacities
The Vineyard Lawn takes up to 700 guests, with views of sandstone hills, vines and olive trees. The Terrace Lawn takes up to 450, a figure given as 500 elsewhere on the site. The Cresta Blanca Room seats up to 150 for corporate events and up to 140 for weddings. The Barrel Room and the Veranda Room each receive private groups of 15 to 150, with a private bar, space for lunch platters and indoor and outdoor areas. The caves take 40 people but have no AV equipment. On the two lawns, AV can be rented.
Catering
Food and drinks come from the Wente Vineyards catering department, with seasonal private dining menus, conference menus, golf tournament menus and holiday menus that the estate advises booking early. Outside alcohol is not allowed. If the kitchen cannot provide a particular cuisine, an insured outside caterer can be brought in for an extra fee. A food and beverage minimum applies and varies by season.
History and setting
The winery was established in 1883 and presents itself as the oldest continuously operated, family-owned winery in the United States. It is still family-owned and led by the women of the family. The estate includes a tasting lounge with cave tours, seated tastings and a walk-up bar, and a public golf course where tee times can be booked online.
Getting there
The estate is at 5050 Arroyo Road, Livermore, CA 94550, in the Livermore Valley, within reach of the greater Bay Area by road. Oakland International and San Jose airports are the closest major airports, with San Francisco International farther west.
